NicThic Productions
NicThic Productions is an American-Canadian animation company and film distributor based in Valparaiso, Indiana in the U.S. and in Selkirk, Manitoba in Canada. Founded by D.A. Nichols and Abbey Thickson in April 2005, the studio is an independent studio run by Nichols and Thickson. NicThic creates animated feature films, short films, television series, and video games, which are mostly centered around children, teens, and early young adults. The studio has currently produced a total of 66 feature films, with its most recent being ''Barbapapa'' (2019). It is also best known for its franchises including ''Fox's Island'', ''Ash & Lance'', ''Bad Kitty'', ''Skippyjon Jones'', and later sequels of ''Rock Dog''. Its subsidiaries include NicThic Cinemation Studios, NicThic Interactive Studios, NicThic Home Entertainment, Lyrick Studios, Shadow Projects, Nickson-Graf Enterprises, and a 50% share of Mandoo Pictures. History 2005-2006: Founding and early years NicThic Productions was launched by D.A. Nichols and Abbey Thickson in April 2005 after leaving NT Animation, which Nichols founded in 1996. Their first feature film, ''Fox's Island'', was released on August 12, 2005. Its title character, Rocko, had become a mascot of the company since his introduction in 2005. They retain ownership of the NT Animation library. In December 2006, NicThic announced a four-year deal with Blockbuster Video to give the video renting company exclusive rights for rentals starting on January 1, 2007. However, under the First Sale Doctrine of U.S. copyright law, other rental companies are able to rent copies of the company's films purchased at retail. The company is the producer of Uberpuppy the Arctic Wolf, which produced the show's third through ninth seasons. NicThic Interactive Studios is the video game publishing and development arm of NicThic Productions founded in 2006 as a subsidiary. It is best known for publishing the [[Fox's Island (video game)|video game adaptation of Fox's Island]]. 2007-present: Anime distribution On February 11, 2007, NicThic Productions announced that it will start distributing anime films, and would also include an English dub cast as well. The first anime to have an English dub was the 1993 film Ocean Waves in 2008. 2011-present: Expansion In 2011, NicThic formed a larger animation studio, NicThic Cinemation Studios, based in Indianapolis, to produce larger films. NicThic remained at NT Animation's original location in the Vale Park Village until December 2011 when they moved to the Uptown East Apartments in Valparaiso. Name The company name comes from the first letters of the last names of the company's founders. "NIC" comes from D.A. Nichols and "THIC" comes from Abbey Thickson. Subsidiaries Current * NicThic Cinemation Studios - founded in 2011 * NicThic Interactive Studios - founded in 2006 * Verdehile Entertainment - founded in 2010, acquired in 2012 * The Laser Picture Company - founded in 2011, acquired in 2016 * Lyrick Studios - founded in 1988 as The Lyons Group, acquired by HiT Entertainment in 2001, relaunched by NicThic Productions in 2006 * Shadow Projects - founded in 1986, closed in 2009, relaunched in 2012 * Lightspan Entertainment - founded in 2004 as a joint venture between Plato Learning and NT Animation, ownership taken by NicThic in 2005. * Mandoo Pictures - founded in 2015, acquired in 2017 * Blue Light Films - founded in 1997, originally owned by NT Animation, acquired by NicThic in 2005. * Nickson-Graf Enterprises - founded in 2017 Former * Square 1 Animation - founded in 1999, closed on May 19, 2006. * Red Eye Productions - founded in 2001, declared bankruptcy on October 31, 2010. * NicThic Home Entertainment - founded in 1996 as NT Home Video, ceased to exist in 2014, folded into Lionsgate Home Entertainment. Still survives as an in-name-only unit. Filmography Feature films Released films Upcoming Films in development Direct-to-video films Short films More coming soon! Distributed films Television series Miniseries Television specials Cancelled films